Axially engaging positive clutch



/ March 23, 1948. J. T. LANCASTER 2,438,175

` AXIALLY lENGAGING POSITI'VE'GLTCH File oct. 110, 1945 [n1/antw"Patented Mar. 23 1948 AXIALLY ENGAGING POSITIVE CLUTCH John T.Lancaster,-Newton, Mass., assignor to United Shoe Machinery Corporation,Flemington, N. J., a corporation of New Jersey Application October 10,1945, Serial No. 621,523

This invention relates to clutches and is herein disclosed as embodiedin a clutch of the type wherein the engagement between the separableclutch members is positive rather than frictonal. Clutches of this typeare sometimes difiicult to disengage manually when transmitting a heavyload because of the friction developed between the engaging members.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a clutch of thepositive type which may be easilyv disengaged under all conditions. Inaccordance with a feature of the invention, one of the interengagingclutch elements is an antifriction roll. As shown herein, this roll,which is carried upon one of the separable members, engages an abutmentcarried bythe other member in such a way that a positive drive istransmitted between the roll and the abutment. The illustrative clutchis provided with a plurality of such rolls which engage correspondingabutments.

The invention will now be described with reference to the accompanyingdrawing, in which Fig. 1 is a sectional view taken in the plane of theaxis of an illustrative clutch embodying the invention;

Fig. 2 is a transverse sectional view taken on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a transverse sectional View taken on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1;and

Fig. 4 is a view in elevation with a portion of the mechanism brokenaway showing the inter.. engaging clutch members.

The purpose of the improved clutch shown herein is to drive a shaft l ineither direction from a gear I2 which may be driven from any suitablesource of power. The shaft IG is journaled for free rotation in fixedbearings I4 and I6 in a bracket I'l and is held against end thrust inone direction by a thrust bearing I8 and in the other direction by ashoulder which terminates an enlarged threaded end portion 20 of theshaft. The gear I2 has a hub consisting of a long sleeve 22 whichrotates freely upon the shaft Il) and which is held against axialmovement in one direction by engagement with an end face of the bearingI4 and in the opposite direction by engagement with a sleeve 24 which,in turn, en gages an end face of the bearing IB. Freely rotatable uponthe sleeve 22 is a sleeve 25 which constitutes the hub portion of aclutch member 28. Fast upon the hub 26 and held against relativerotation and axial movement with respect thereto by a tight-tting key 29is a bevel gear 30. Secured upon the sleeve 24 and to the shaft l0 by apin'32 is a bevel gear 34. Journaled for 1 Claim. (C1. 192-67) 2 freerotation in a bearing 38 in the bracket Il is a. shaft 36 carrying abevel gear 40 which is constantly in mesh with the gears 30 and 34 andwhich transmits the drive of the gear 30 to the gear 34 in a reversedirection. The sleeve 26 is held against downward sliding on the sleeve22 by the engagement of the gear 3!) with the gear 40. Sliclably mountedfor axial movement upon the sleeve 22 is a shiftable clutch member 42(Fig. 4) having a pair of flanges 44 which between them form aperipheral groove. The sleeve 22, which is a rotary element, thusconstitutes a support for the slidable clutch member 42. A pair ofdiametrically opposite rolls 45 (Fig. 2) carried by pins 48 mounted inthe ends of a yoke 5U engage the groove formed by the flanges 44. Theyoke 50 is fulcrumed upon a pin 52 mounted in a supporting bracket 54and has an arm 55 extending from its hub which may. be manually operatedto swing the yoke about its fulcrum and thereby shift the clutch member42 axially. While the clutch member 42 is free to move axially upon therotating sleeve 22, it is keyed thereto to prevent relative rotation.The key arrangefreely rotatable upon pins carried by the clutch member42 and engaging a longitudinal slot 60 formed in the sleeve 22. Anadditional pair of rolls 62 also carried by the clutch member 42 andpositioned diametrically opposite the rolls 58 engage a longitudinalslot 64 formed in the sleeve 22.

Formed upon the intermediate clutch member 42 are a plurality of lugs G6having abrupt abutment faces 53 which extend in planes parallel to theaxis of the clutch and slightly offset from radial. The lugs 66 arebacked off by sloping faces lil. Integral with the sleeve 24 is a clutchmember in the form of a dished ange 'I2 which -Y carries a plurality ofantifriction rolls 14, each roll being mounted upon a pin 'It secured inthe peripheral portion of the ange l2. Each of the rolls 'I4 isengageable with one of the abutment faces 68, and the extent to whichthe abutment face is offset from the radial is equal to half thediameter of the roll to insure engagement of the roll along its fulllength with the abutment face. Fig. 3 shows the rolls engaging theabutments, which in this iieure, are indicated by broken lines becausethey are back of the plane in which the section is taken. The directionof rotation of the clutch member 42 is such as to make the abrupt faceE8 of each lug 55 the leading face and the sloping face 'ill thetrailing face. The slope of the trailing face 'i' provides a maximum ofclearance space between the lugs consistent with a a neutral position,as shown in l'ig'.Y 1, wherein it.

does not engage either the rolls 13 or the rolls 14, or it may engageeither set of rolls tothe exclusion of the other set. Assuming theintermediate member 42 to be in the neutral position,

the drive from the gear l2 Will not be trans-- mitted to either of thegears 30 or 34. If, now, the intermediate member 42 is shifted upwardlyyfrom the position shown in Fig. l, the abutment surfaces of the lugs 80Will be brought into a position wherein continued rotation Will bringthem into engagement With the rolls 78, causing the gear 39 to be drivenin the same direction as the gear I2 and, throughv the gear e9, causingthe gear 3Q', and thereby the shaft I, to be driven in an oppositedirection. If, on the other hand; the intermediate member 1&2 is`shifted downward, the lugs 66 will engage the rolls 'ill and will drivethe sleeve 29, and thereby the shaft IEL'in the same direction as thegear I2'.

This clutch, among various uses, may be included to advantage in amachine ofV vthe type disclosed in application for United States LettersPatent Serial No.' 582,043', iiled in my name on March 10, 1945, forPressure mechanisms. In. that machine, thescrew corresponding tothethreaded end 20 of the shaft l0 engages a nut 82 clamped toa slide 84which operates through a spring. B to exert pressure. It is convenientinl machines of the type disclosed in my copending application abovereferred to, to release the clutch through the'. operation of a part ofthe machine which is driven indirectly from the member 843; that is,which is driven through the clutch. It is therefore Vdesirable in suchmachines to provide clutches notonly Which disengage easily'but in whichthefmovement of separation of the interen- 4 gaging clutch members willbe aided by the operation of the clutch itself. This condition isfulfilled in the clutch illustrated herein by reason of the fact thatthe rolls, as soon as the abutment faces have been retracted past thecenter lines of the rolls, Will exert upon the lugs a camming actionWhich tends further to separate the clutch members.

Having described myV invention, what I claim as new and desire to secureby Letters Patent of the United States is:

In a. rotaryy clutch, a driving member, a member, at least oneantifriction roll journaled for idle rotation on one of said memberswith its .axis substantiallyY radial with respect to the axis slopedaway from said drive-transmitting face to provide a maximum ofcircumferential clearance space between the abutments for easy entry ofthe roll between the abutments and also to provide for-the abutment amaximum of-.strength consistent with suchY clearancev space. Y

JOHN T. LANCASTER.

The following-rejferences are of record inthe le of thispatent: A Y A.

UNITEDV STATES. PATENTS Number Name Date 392,610 Hoffman 'Nov. 13, 1888499,226 ,Heinekel et al. June 13, 1893 900,578l Nichols Oct. 6, 19081,006,551 Hendricksonl Oct. 24, 1911 1,331,891 K Arbeite] Feb. 24,19201,646,646' Gaylord Oct.25, 1927 1,686,989V Ridley Oct.' 9, 119281,987,682' lHunt Jan, 15, 1935 2,050,910 Zancan Aug. 11,1936

2,390,792 Jespersen Dec. 171',v 1945 driven\ Y

